Valinor
by DemonsWrath
Summary: What if Sauron didnt completely dissapear when he was destroyed? Niklas and Jakk discover he didnt when Niklas happens to get a glimpse of Valinor, and they are launched into a quest way over their heads... PLZ REVIEW! need comments to improve!
1. Chapter 1

Valinor's Corruption Valinor's CorruptionChapter 1

Niklas, a young hobbit of fifteen dragged his feet along the river Lune's banks for what seemed like the thousandth time. He was carrying an empty bucket and a long, sharp pole. For the first time in what was said to be since the last Middle Earth war, or the War of Evil Unmatched, the hobbits called it, a famine had come over Hobbiton. Of course they knew incredibly little about this war other than what the Four Heroes had taught them and that the "Beasts" that had enslaved them were Saurons minions. But this was enough to tell them that famine was not the worst thing that could have happened. It was also enough to make a very disturbing superstition that a famine signals the rebirth of a dark force as powerful as Sauron. Niklas shook his head, a smirk on his face, as if _he_ believed in such things!

He bent down and waited, staring into the rivers rushing water, watching for an un-knowing fish to swim by so that he could catch it on his make-shift spear. Suddenly there it was, a small, round, and plump fish. Niklas licked his lips, this would do nicely, he could already hear the sizzling and smell the aroma of that fish on the stove as he thrust his spear a little too hard, a little too late.

Before he knew it Niklas was in the river, its cold, strong current pulling him away from the bank at an alarmingly fast rate. He strained his arms past their limit, struggling to get out of the immense rivers center, but it was no use, the bank was more than five yards away and he was struggling too hard to stay above water as it was. Just then something hit his head, hard, and he swirled away into the dark abyss that lay before him.

The next thing Niklas knew was the color gray, and a damp scent. _Fog_, he thought vaguely, _I'm in a cloud._ Niklas next realized that he was not in water anymore, he was on something hard. He squinted through the mist and saw what looked like the ruins of a boat floating around him. It seemed that he was on a piece of the hull. Niklas sighed in relief; he wasn't dead! But where was he?

Off in the distance he heard a sound, it had been a scream. Niklas spun around, or at least as around as he could get on a piece of floating wood, but it was impossible to tell where it had come from, here in the middle of nothingness. There was nothing to do but wait as the raft drifted aimlessly in the foggy waters. Then, finally, he saw something, a green-grassed island. He squinted hard to make out the details; it seemed to be a lush green valley with beautiful trees and animals unlike anything Niklas had ever seen before. But there was something strange about the image. It was almost like a flickering. As though it were a slide being played on one of those wizards' moving pictures they called movies. _It must be the fog,_ Niklas thought, _a trick of the fog_.

But as the raft drew nearer the island became more and more blurry, until it started shaking, the image dancing around. And behind it, Niklas saw something he would never forget. The island was there, yes, just not the same. There was no lush green grass, no beautiful trees, no exotic animals, just barren wasteland with ogres and demon-creatures patrolling the shores. Niklas had seen enough; he closed his eyes and prayed for it to be over._ It's just a nightmare, _he thought, _just a nightmare…_but when he re-opened his eyes, the scene was still there, only closer. Frantically, Niklas jumped off the raft and began to swim the opposite way, pushing his piece of boat along with him. Time seemed to pass as it never had before; it seemed his whole life Niklas had been swimming in this dark, gray world until, finally, he caught a current. Niklas climbed back onto his raft and collapsed, exhausted.

Next thing he knew, he was back in daylight, near Mithlond, the grey haven. His limbs ached from the swimming last night, or this morning, or whenever that had been, and all he wanted was to get back on land. Slowly, the raft floated to shore and Niklas stumbled off, exhausted. Just then Niklas remembered the nightmarish scene he had witnessed earlier. _Where had I been?_ He thought, _it couldn't have been far, only a couple miles, at the most. _Niklas decided he'd look it up when he got home.

Home, luckily for him, was only a few blocks away and he was there in only a couple minutes. When he opened the door he was welcomed by a loud squeal of delight and a shout. "Niklas is home mommy!, He's home!!" it was his little sister, Narii. His mom then came rushing into the hallway, "Niklas!" she exclaimed, "We thought you had drowned!"

"I nearly did." Niklas said. "I fell into the river while trying to catch a fish and was swept along the river for what seemed like forever until…." Niklas trailed off. He didn't want to tell his family about the island until he was sure it wasn't a dream. "Until I floated back to the riverbank." I ended.

After quite a few more questions and answers he went to the living room to warm up by the fire and to look up the Lune river. He opened up the encyclopedia to page 45 and there it was, the thing I had most feared.

_The Lune river is a legendary river not only for the fact that it holds the largest size in all of Hobbiton but also because it is said that the haven that the elves retreated to long ago, Valinor, can be found past the grey mists._

_It had been Valinor then,_ Niklas thought. _But what happened to the peaceful haven I've read about?_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

The sun rose up the next day with the usual brightness, but to Niklas, it was anything but normal. The nightmarish scene was still glued in his memory, as if someone had painted a picture on the inside of his eyeballs. He had to tell someone, but who could he tell? Not his mom, not his sister, they'd just laugh and say he'd dreamt it. What about his friend Jakk? Maybe he'd believe him! _Yes,_ Niklas thought, _he'd tell Jakk_. With that he walked out the door, too caught up in his own thoughts to even grab breakfast.

The morning had a sharp coolness about it. Cold, but not unpleasant. Niklas walked down the dirt path, his wavy, longer than average honey blonde hair falling into his eyes with every other step. _I really should cut it,_ he thought, _it just gets in the way._ Niklas passed by Farmer Grekk's apple grove. He jumped the fence and grabbed an apple, casually munching on it as he approached Jakk's house. Jakk had an abnormally large house, it was previously owned by the one and only Frodo Baggins. In fact, he was actually distantly related to him! Which, in Niklas' eyes, was one of the coolest things imaginable. Niklas walked up the stone paved path, threw his apple core to a nearby squirrel, and knocked on the door with his fist.

A large commotion and a series of shouts and barks answered, along with a crash as something fell. "Jakk!" called Jakk's mom, "Get the door!"

"Coming!" Jakk answered.

He opened the door, "Hi Niklas!" he said. Just then a brown and black blur came sprinting out the door. It was Ketshuup. "Get that dog!" came a scream from inside the house. But Niklas already had him by the collar, victory was theirs! "Got him." He told Jakk's mom. His voice was steady and controlled but his eyes gave him away. He had earned Jakk's mothers gratitude, _which means,_ Niklas thought; his emerald green eyes sparkling, _more home-baked cookies for me! _ Jakk looked at Niklas, grinning. But Niklas found he could not return it. The scene had come back to him. The barren plane, desolate mountains, and above all, the Ogres.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his grin turning to a frown.

"Not here" Niklas mouthed.

"Hey mom!" Jakk shouted, "I'm going for a walk!" And with that, they left. As they walked, Niklas told Jakk all about the disturbing scene he had witnessed, starting from the beginning. "And so that's what happened." He concluded. Jakk's frown deepened, making his pale, freckled face screw up into a pout-like position. His glowing silver eyes had lost their shimmer and even his dark red hair seemed to have wilted somewhat. "So," he asked, "What are we going to do?"

"Going to do!?" Niklas repeated in amazement, "What do you mean what are we going to do?" Jakk shrugged,

"Don't you think we should at least tell someone? I mean this is serious isn't it?" his eyes regained their shimmer, "This is the elves we're talking about! A race we've always dreamed of meeting! We're not going to just goof around like nothings wrong while they are being tortured by devils for eternity!" Niklas dropped his gaze, kicking his bare feet into the ground, as if punishing them for his stupidity. _Of course they were going to do something!_ He thought_, we can't condemn them to that kind of fate!_

"All right" he said, "What should we do then?"

"Ummm…" Jakk said, absently playing with the buttons on his scratchy woolen green shirt, "maybe we should start by telling someone important, someone that will believe us and actually have an idea of what to do." Niklas thought, twisting his honey-like hair around his finger until it had lost all circulation.

"I know!" Jakk said, "There's a wizard coming into town tomorrow, its Hadlor, He'll believe us!"

"Yeah… I guess" Niklas answered doubtfully, "It's just… he's supposed to be, you know, not exactly sane…."

"Well you know," Jakk replied, slightly angry, "Frodo was said to be out of his mind when he left The Shire on his "crazy mission"

"Fine." Niklas said, accepting defeat.

"In the mean time, do you wanna go fishing?" Jakk suggested.

"Sure." Niklas replied, glad to have something to take the "problem" as Jakk and Niklas soon began to call it, out of his mind.

Soon they were finished sharpening their sticks and were heading over to the Lune River. Once there they lay side-by-side on their stomachs, and waited. "Okay, what the heck!" Jakk finally said, losing his temper, "what happened to all the fish!"

"I don't know," Niklas answered, "Maybe we scared them all away." He had just gotten up when, out of the corner of his eye, Niklas saw a purple-blue glow in the nearby bushes. What's that?" he asked. Jakk turned, and saw it too.

"I don't know," he answered, "Let's go see!" as they walked toward it, a trance-like state came over the two friends, almost as if it was in a dream. Then, finally they were there. "What is it?" Niklas asked, "Some kind of crystal ball?" indeed, it did look like a glowing black crystal ball. "Lets bring it to my house, maybe there's something about it in one of our books!" Niklas suggested, brimming with excitement from their un-usual discovery. Niklas' living room was piled high with books from all over the world. There was everything you needed to know in your entire life through that one room. Soon they were sinking into the squishy armchairs, flipping through books and enjoying the way the warm fireplace seemed to melt away the chill from their bodies.

They were just finishing their supper when finally Jakk came across the answer. "I think I've got something!" he exclaimed. Niklas leaned over Jakk's chair back and read: "_The palantir, an amazing yet dangerous tool that lets the user see out through the other palantirs. The current location of the palantirs are un-known, so it is advisable that if one is found, the finder should contact Rohan immediately, for they have been charged to see that each of them is found and kept safe_."

"A Palantir!" Jakk said, mouth agape, "The last time one of those was ever seen was in the time of the War of Evil Unmatched!"

For what seemed like hours they sat in a stunned, disbelieving silence. Finally Niklas spoke. "So, what do you suppose we should do?" he asked, "Should we try to use it?"

"I don't think that we are really supposed to touch it, you know, because last time it was touched, it led the person straight to the Eye."

"Well," Niklas answered, " Saurons dead, the Eye has been destroyed, and every single one of these palantirs are lost except for this one."

"Okay fine," Jakk replied, "but just one touch, and we'll do it together."

"Cool!" Niklas said, his head buzzing with excitement. They reached over to grab it, "Three, two…" Jakk began, "and… one!!" Before Niklas could even start to move his arm, Jakk was touching it, an excited look slowly fading away to confusion. "What the" was all he had time to say before he was suddenly thrown back, a piece of darkness that seemed to have flown off from the palantir following him.

As the darkness flew toward Jakk, it brushed against Niklas, sending him flailing across the room and into the bookshelf halfway across the room. He only had time to see the darkness settle over Jakk before spiraling into darkness for the second time in two days.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Nerezza means darkness in Italian Chapter 3

Sunlight filtered through the many windows of the library, making it an almost magical beam of light that fell onto Niklas' face. He turned over in his sleep, his closed eyes pointing in the direction of Jakk's face. Un-noticed by even himself, Jakk was covered in a shining light, alike to the beams coming in through the window. It was ever-so-slowly seeping into his body like he was some kind of light sponge.

Jakk's eyes sprang opened as if he had attached little springs to either one, and he saw Niklas, draped over the large armchair, snoring loudly. "Hey Niklas!" he shouted, and walked over to him. Niklas grunted and rolled over, away from Jakk. Jakk reached out to poke Niklas' head when suddenly his hand convulsed, like it had a life of it's own and reached for Niklas' neck, then it was over as suddenly as it had come. Jakk stared at his hand, now suspended inches from Niklas' neck. It looked normal enough, other than the fact that there was a slightly pink tinge on his palm. He shrugged and poked Niklas like he was planning on doing before his little spasm.

Niklas slowly opened his eyes, looking blearily at Jakk. "I had the weirdest dream," Niklas said, "That you tried to strangle me," Jakk froze, but Niklas didn't seem to notice his surprised response and continued. " But you looked scared, like you couldn't help yourself, like you had to do it or something…." Now Jakk's blood, it seemed, turned to ice in his veins. "That's… weird" was all he managed to say past the invisible block in his throat.

A few minutes later the two boys were dressed and ready to find Hadlor, Jakk already beginning to forget his strange action. The road was empty, not one person was outside on one of the most beautiful days Niklas and Jakk had ever seen. Early spring could be truly a wonder, with its sprouting leaves and flowers leaving sweet smells and the slight frost leaving everything in a frozen, almost preserved state. Jakk's perfectly kept almost crimson colored hair fit right in to the colors around him. _If someone had been on one of those flying balloons they probably would have mistaken him for a moving flower!_ Niklas thought absently. "Why are you smiling?" Jakk asked, "What? Is there syrup on my face?" Niklas felt his face and realized it was in a smile. "No," he answered, "It's just that you look like a flower!" Jakk scowled and began walking faster.

Soon they were at the "Gardeners Sanctuary" the newest installation to The Shire. Niklas cautiously opened the door and peered inside. Everything was relatively quiet and mostly empty. Jakk squeezed around Niklas, who followed him into the main room. There were only two customers, them and the innkeeper. The two men looked as though they had drank just a little bit too much, because their movements were jerky and inhuman, while their eyes had a far off look to them.

"Umm… excuse me?" Jakk said to the innkeeper, "Is Hadlor here?" The innkeepers eyes brightened, "Yes, he's here! Come to take him away have you? Well be my guest, he's caused nothing but trouble." The innkeeper pointed up the stairs "You go up there, he's the first door on your left."

"Thanks." Niklas said over his shoulder as they scampered up the stairs. Jakk reached the door first, flinging it opened without even bothering to knock, then running inside with a freakish smile on his face. Then his smile faded and he shook himself, like he was a wet dog. "I'm sorry! I'm so-so sorry!!" he said when he noticed he was standing right in front of Hadlor and another person he did not know, "I don't know why I did that!"

"Neither do I, but I forgive you." Hadlor answered, a surprised smile on his face, "You wanted to see me I assume?"

"Yes" Niklas answered, and explained their problem to the wizard. By the time he was finished the woman next to Hadlor was sitting straight up in her recliner. "The elves you say? My people?"

"Your p-? Oh!" Niklas said, noticing her pointed ears and chestnut shaped eyes. "Yes, your people." He answered. "I don't mean to be nosy or anything, but how can you still be here, all the elves left for Valinor years ago."

"All the elves left, except for Legolas, I am Legolas' granddaughter." She explained lightly, though it threw Jakk and Niklas quite off guard. "Y-you?" Jakk stammered, "y-you're related to Legolas? Th-that's so cool!!" he practically shouted, drawing a smile from her face. "Yes, it is an honor," she answered, sweeping her long, raven black hair back from her face, revealing a rounder than normal elvish face. "But I am half human, my grandmother was Naminah. But this is irrelevant, what matters now is to find a way to save the elves!"

"Do you have anything that might help us, give us clues of what we face?" Hadlor asked. By the look of him he was young, no older than thirty, but with his face screwed up in the frown he was wearing right now, he could have passed off easily for fifty.

"Well," Jakk began, wearing a troubled look, "We did find a Palantir…." Hadlor's face lit up, "A palantir! What a perfect excuse to go to Rohan that is!! Oh this is perfect, I don't have to entertain these idiots!! Nerezza, we leave tomorrow!" Jakk and Niklas exchanged glances. "Wait!" Niklas finally said, "We're coming with you!" Haldor's face lost its glow. "Is that really necessary?"

"You'll find that it is." Jakk growled. For a second his hand twitched as though it was reaching for Haldor, but then it was gone, along with his menacing expression. Niklas shook his head; he must have imagined it. "I _saw_ Valinor," Niklas said, "I can't live not knowing if it's free or not my whole life! Whether you like it or not, we're going with you."


End file.
